A New Beginning
by BronzeWing31340
Summary: Christmas Eve 1981 and it's been a tough year for Narcissa Malfoy. Having nearly lost everything to the pure-blood cause, she awaits the return of her husband to learn of her sister's fate. Oneshot, please review.


A/N: My first oneshot of Lucius and Narcissa after the fall of the Dark Lord in 1981.

Please let me know what you think.

Disclaimer: Wish it was mine but no it isn't. I don't make any money off of this, I'm just a fan writing fanfiction with J K Rowling's characters, all in my free time.

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**24th December 1981**

Christmas that year was one that Narcissa Malfoy wasn't going to forget in a hurry. The Dark Lord had been destroyed by a fifteen month old baby a mere two months ago and life for his faithful followers had changed. Barty Crouch had been placed in charge of convicting those who were arrested on suspicion of being a Death Eater or a spy for Voldemort. Of course, this meant everyone that Narcissa knew was in jeopardy.

It had all started to go downhill when her cousin Evan Rosier, was killed in combat whilst the Death Eaters were fighting against the Order of the Phoenix. George Avery, who had been a classmate of hers at Hogwarts, claimed to have been under the imperius curse and had no knowledge or say in doing the Dark Lord's bidding. Avery was later given a job as an ambassador to the French Ministry. Augustus Rookwood, Tiberius Goyle, James Crabbe and Timothy Nott also claimed to be under the imperius curse. All were later cleared of all charges and given various jobs within the Ministry.

It was a night near the end of November when she had unexpected visitors. She and Lucius had already retired for the evening and had started to doze off when Dobby had appeared to announce the arrival of Bellatrix, Rodolphus, Rabastan and Barty Crouch Jr. Lucius and Narcissa had thrown on their dressing gowns and greeted their unexpected guests in the living room of the manor.

Bellatrix(who in Narcissa's opinion was the most faithful to Voldemort),was adamant that two Aurors for the Ministry and members of the Order, Alice and Frank Longbottom, knew the location of their master. Despite Lucius telling her sister that his personal belief was that their master was dead, Bellatrix sneered at him that he was a coward and that she, Rodolphus, Rabastan and Barty were going to find out where their master was, no matter what. With that, Bellatrix and her companions had left the manor and Narcissa hadn't a clue that this particular visit from her sister, was going to be the last time she ever saw her.

Although many members of the Order had been killed by Death Eaters, everyone was under threat when Igor Karkaroff was captured and imprisoned. Narcissa began to fear for the safety of her husband after that, after all, Lucius was a faithful follower. It was following talks at the Ministry that Lucius burst home urgently one day in early December and announced that Bella, her husband, her brother-in-law and Barty had been captured by the Ministry. Igor Karkaroff had made a deal with Barty Crouch Sr, if he gave the Ministry the names of all those suspected Death Eaters, he would be released from Azkaban.

She still remembered the day that Lucius had been hauled into questioning. She had been full of nerves all day, it had gotten so bad that she had sent an elf to instruct her mother to take Draco for the night as she felt unable to look after her son because she was anxiously waiting to hear of her husband's fate. Luckily for Narcissa, her husband had been released after forty eight hours of questioning.

The thought played out through her head of the conversation she had had with Lucius after his release.

_"What's going to happen to you?" _

_Lucius downed his brandy in one large gulp and set the empty glass on the desk. _

_"Fear not my love, my questioners were easily fooled. I told them that I was under the imperius curse and that it only became apparent to me when the curse was wearing off. They took my statement, asked me more questions over my sister-in-law to which I answered that we didn't see much of her so we had no idea that Bellatrix and her family were Death Eaters. I paid them a rather generous amount of money as a 'donation' to ensure that I would not be arrested and the Minister is happy with my statement." Lucius replied._

_Narcissa paced the study, still on edge. Millicent Bagnold had been sacked and had been replaced with Cornelius Fudge. _

_"But Fudge is new to all this? he bought what you had to say?" she asked, still feeling uneasy. _

_"Darling, you worry too much." Lucius stated harshly.  
_

_Narcissa scoffed that he was scolding her for worrying if her husband was going to be taken away from her and her son. _

_"Lucius Malfoy! I worry because I have no clue as to what would happen should you be thrown in Azkaban. What about Draco? He needs his father. And I need you to understand that although I could cope with your running off at stupid hours of the night to do his bidding, what am I supposed to do when you get a life sentence in Azkaban and leaving me as a single mother to raise our only son?" she shrieked. _

_Lucius rose from his seat and hurriedly walked over to her, he placed his hands on her shoulders with a firm but gentle grip. _

_"Narcissa, it's all taken care of. Fudge needs financial support, these trials are very expensive and wizarding Britain could be close to financial ruin. I have the advantage here, using the Malfoy name and wealth I have offered support to Fudge which he has accepted, in return for a pardon to be released publicly. The statement in the Prophet will declare that I am innocent after witnesses have confirmed that I haven't been myself recently. With that in the paper, nobody will be able to question whether or not I was involved with the Death Eaters." Lucius assured. _

_Narcissa nodded her head as she took in Lucius's assurance that they would be fine, but that didn't stop her from worrying about Bella. _

It was Christmas eve and she was awaiting Lucius's return from the Ministry. Her eighteen month old son was already in bed and she smiled affectionately at the large pile of presents under the tree that were just for Draco. She loved her son dearly, and although Lucius didn't approve; she wanted him to be spoiled rotten in the hope that he wouldn't be able to remember his father being suspected by the Ministry of being a murderer.

She knew her husband wasn't perfect, he was far from it. He never spoke of his missions for the Dark Lord but having a sister who loved to brag of her killings, she imagined that Lucius had been doing the same as Bella. Narcissa rose from the sofa and went to the drink's cabinet to pour herself a glass of brandy. She was awaiting to hear of Bella's fate, her trial was happening today and she didn't want to sit in the courtroom to see four people that she cared about to suffer the Dementor's kiss.

As she poured herself a brandy, she heard the front doors of the manor open and slam closed. Her heart beating fast in her chest as she was glad that Lucius was finally home. She turned when she heard him enter the room and she got another brandy glass out from the cabinet to pour her husband a brandy.

"You're home late." she said, not meaning to say it in a tone of accusation.

Lucius stepped over to her and took the brandy she had just poured for him. Together, they sat down on the sofa and took a swig of brandy from their glasses.

"I was at the Ministry until late and then I had some errands to run." Lucius answered.

Narcissa raised an eyebrow, "Errands at eight o'clock on Christmas eve?" she asked.

Lucius chuckled at her suspicion and groped around in his pocket and pulled out a medium sized wrapped present. Narcissa's heart melted as he handed it to her, he was always doing things unexpectedly.

"Aren't you going to open it?" he asked her.

Narcissa shook her head and placed the present onto the side table before turning back to her husband.

"What's happened to Bella?" she asked, knowing deep down that her sister's punishment wasn't going to be an easy one.

Lucius drained his brandy in one before pulling his wand out of his trouser pocket and summoning the brandy. He poured himself another glass before answering her.

"Life imprisonment in Azkaban, no visitors allowed." Lucius replied.

Narcissa nodded, an awkward silence developing. She knew that Lucius was holding something back.

"Did they get the kiss?" asked Narcissa, dreading that the answer was yes.

Lucius sighed heavily and placed his glass on the coffee table before taking her hands in his.

"They were spared the kiss but the Ministry drained the majority of their vault as a payment to do so. Their house has been taken into ownership of the Ministry and they'll be placed in the highest security cells in Azkaban with guards outside the door all day, every day until they die." sighed Lucius.

Narcissa rose from her seat and paced around the living room before stopping in front of the crackling fireplace, she faced towards the fire and watched as the orange flames danced over the burning logs. She had lost much due to the purity cause. Andromeda had refused to marry a pure-blood to please their father and had run off with a muggleborn and had a half-blood daughter. Her cousin Regulus had been killed for betraying the Dark Lord because he wanted to leave the Death Eaters, then there was the death of her cousin Evan that had happened in May. She had nearly lost her husband due to the Dark Lord's downfall, and now she had lost her only remaining sister.

She felt strong hands wrap around her and she turned in Lucius's arms to face him completely. She could only hope that they could start afresh when the new year came, not just for the sake of their marriage, but for the sake of their son.

"It was her choice, Narcissa." Lucius whispered.

Narcissa nodded, "I know it was. Since Andromeda deserted the family, that only fueled Bella's hatred for mudbloods even more. You could even say that she joined the Dark Lord because of Andromeda's desertion." she sighed.

Lucius gave her a small smile as he stroked her cheek affectionately.

"I cannot promise you that life will be better but what I can promise is to try. I can try and be a better husband and a better father from now on, I can try to make you happier in the years that follow this, if that is what you want." Lucius vowed.

Narcissa returned her husband's smile and she wrapped her arms around his neck.

"I always said I'd support you in all your decisions, I am not angry with you for what has happened as it was unpredictable that the Dark Lord would fall. But I cannot help but worry about the fates of those I care for and love. You and Draco are the only family I have left besides my parents and I do not wish to lose what remains to me. So we can try and be a better family from here on out, I just want us to be happy. Just you, me and Draco. That's all that should matter now and what should always come first, can you promise me that my love?" she whispered.

Lucius nodded, "I can certainly promise you that my darling." he smiled.

Narcissa looked over his shoulder to the clock that hung on the wall behind him. It was nearly nine o'clock and Draco was always up at five each morning, Christmas or not.

"Let's get some sleep, Draco will be up before sunup." said Narcissa.

As she turned to leave the room, she felt a strong grip on her upper arm and Lucius spun her back round to face him.

"Not so fast Mrs Malfoy." Lucius chuckled.

Narcissa giggled when she saw that he had pulled some mistletoe out of his pocket and was hanging it above their heads.

"One of your 'errands'?" Narcissa questioned.

Lucius flashed her a toothy grin, "Merry Christmas darling, I love you." he whispered.

"I love you too Lucius," she giggled.

And then Lucius's mouth swooped down on her and kissed her enthusiastically. She wrapped her arms around his neck and he lifted her off the ground, it was in this moment as she met her husband's enthusiasm that it was just him and her and Draco now. This was their new beginning.


End file.
